More Like Family
by KaeterinaRomanov
Summary: A days long chase because of Skulker leads into Danny meeting the Young Justice team. The team starts out as good friends, but end up becoming more like family.
1. Chapter 1

Danny was exhausted! He had never been chased this far by Skulker so far in his entire life. He had been chased through six states for crying out loud. Why would he let himself get chased for that long instead of just beating him? Easy, he had taken Jazz as a hostage. Now he had to play cat and mouse with Skulker until Sam and Tucker find and save his sister. He had managed to lose Skulker a few times. During those times, he took advantage of it to turn human and let his ghost core rest. In one regard he guessed he was pretty lucky. It was the last week of summer vacation so he wasn't missing school. This chase had been going on for a few days now. All he wanted to do was rest.

"Hey guys any progress yet? I'm really on my last leg right now." Danny asked into his Fenton phone.

"We found where he hid her Danny!" Tucker yelled happily.

"Now we just have to get her out. Stall for just a bit longer!" Sam said.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a sign that read 'Welcome to Happy Harbor.' Happy Harbor? There was where Mount Justice was! He had gone all the way to Rode Island? Being in the same town as the Mount Justice museum would be so cool if he wasn't being hunted.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Skulker caught up to him. A blast hit him in the back and he plummeted towards a giant mountain. Danny's eyes went wide and turned himself intangible just before he hit the side of it. His goal was to just fly through it. However, once he got to the middle of the mountain he fell into a hollowed-out area. He dropped his intangibility and dropped to the ground. He looked around confused. Why was there a living room in the middle of a mountain? He got up painfully, ugh that burn mark was going to take a few days to heal. Not to mention all the other shots Skulker had managed to get in the past few days. His suit was cut, torn, and burnt in many places.

He was about to fly out of, whatever this was, when a group of costumed teenagers surrounded him. It took him a few seconds to recognize them in his slight panic. When he did though his eyes went wide and bright. It was the sidekicks of the Justice League! Once gain this would be so cool if it wasn't such a bad situation. He was pretty sure he had just accidently found their secret base. Well, oops.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Aqualad demanded.

Danny quickly put his hands up in a, I mean no harm position, only to flinch in pain when his burn got stretched. He let out a small gasp and put his arms down again before saying "I'm so sorry. My name is Phantom, and I fell here on accident. I just have to say, I'm a huge fan of you guys."

"Alright, Phantom, how did you fall here?" Robin asked "There is no hole in the ceiling."

"Oh I, um, phased through the wall?" Danny said, though it sounded more like a question.

Because he was so distracted by the heroes, he momentarily forgot about Skulker. Bad move. Before anyone could say anything else another high powered ecto-blast crashed into Danny's shoulder. Danny let out a yelp of pain as he stumbled forward onto the ground. He felt something wet drip down his side. That blast had been strong enough to draw blood.

Skulker's laugh filled the room "So this is where you were hiding boy. I was wondering where my prey had gone. Prepare to die Phantom, your pelt shall be hanging on my wall tonight."

Danny saw the heroes faces turn a bit green at Skulker's proclamation. Danny got up painfully. He had a momentarily loss of balance before catching himself.

Danny threw a smirk on his face "You know for a self-proclaimed best hunter in the ghost zone it sure takes you a while to catch your prey. Come on Skulker we've been at this for a few days already. You have got to be getting bored."

A predatory grin appeared on Skulker's face "The best hunts take the longest Whelp." Without warning he shot an electrified net at Danny. Danny was already too hurt to dodge it.

Danny's scream of pain echoed through the cave. He collapsed onto his knees as the current cut off. He panted through the pain "Is… that… the best… you've… got?" he gasped out between breathes.

"Not even close Whelp. I've got some new weapons I've been dying to try out." Skulker grinned.

Danny paused a moment before saying "Did you just make a pun? Cause if you did it doesn't really suit you. Witty remarks are my job!" at the end he threw a quick barrage of ecto-blasts. As Skulker was dodging his blasts he yelled out to the heroes "Stay out of his way. You won't be able to do anything. Your attacks will go right through him. I just need to distract him a bit longer so my friends can rescue my sister."

Danny stopped throwing ecto-blasts and moved up into the air so the heroes wouldn't get hit in the cross fire.

Skulker, however, guessed what he was doing "You have one major weakness Whelp. Your protectiveness of those around you." A group of missiles popped out of Skulker's battle suit and fired at the teen heroes.

Danny's eyes went wide as he shot back down in front of them with a shout of "NO!" he threw up a shield to protect them. The shield took the first few missiles before it shattered. Danny still wasn't the best at making shields to begin with, plus with how drained he was; well he was surprised It took any of the missiles at all. Danny took two of the missiles himself, but one snuck by him. To his horror, it was headed straight for Robin.

With the rest of his strength Danny shot towards Robin and turned him intangible at the last possible second. Thankfully the missile just passed harmlessly through him.

"Oh, thank Clockwork." Danny breathed in relief.

"Woah, tingly." Robin commented.

Finally, Sam's voice came through the Fenton phone. Robin was close enough he could hear it "Danny we got Jazz out. Take Skulker down!"

Danny let out a sigh of relief "It took you guys long enough!" he told her before turning back to Skulker.

"Looks like we'll have to cut this hunting session short Skulker. Better luck next week." He pulled out the thermos and quickly sucked Skulker in.

Skulker fought the pull of the beam the whole way shouting "This isn't over Whelp! Your pelt will be mine. I'll put your head on my mantel. You won't get away from the ghost zone's greatest hunter." Finally, he got sucked in and Danny put the cap on.

"Yeah, yeah. Same rant as always." He let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground. He talked into the Fenton phone "Hey guys could you come pick me up? I'm in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. I'm too tired to fly all the way back."

"Sure thing, dude. We'll take the speeder over now." Tucker said.

"Yeah, but I'm driving." Sam said.

"Aw man!" Tucker whined.

Danny let out a low laugh "Just make sure to cloak it this time. We don't need more towns talking about random UFO's."

Tucker let out a laugh "That was funny, but we'll remember this time. Promise. See ya soon dude."

Danny turned off the Fenton phone and simply laid on the ground. Unknown to him Megan had transmitted his whole conversation to the rest of the team. Danny glanced over to Robin.

"Are you alright? Didn't mean to bring anyone into this." Danny asked.

"I'm fine, but you need to answer some questions." Robin said. Not that he wasn't thankful to Phantom for saving him, but his training from Batman kicked in and he needed answers.

Danny sat up slowly "No problem. But, um, could I have some water and something to eat if you have it? I haven't been able to eat the past couple days."

Kid Flash's eyes went wide "Dude that's a crime in itself! Hold on a second." In a blink, he was gone. A few seconds later he was back with a few water bottles, a sandwich, and a bag of chips. "Help yourself Dude."

Danny gave him a smile "Thanks." Then he turned to the rest of the team "So what do you want to know? I'll answer any question as best as I can."

Miss Martian stepped forward first "Shouldn't we take care of your wounds first? You are hurt quite badly and some of those you took because of us."

"Yes, where are our manners, do you require any medical assistance?" Aqualad asked.

Danny shook his head "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I have accelerated healing. I'm used to this, I've taken worse."

The group shared a look, just who is this Phantom person?

Robin started his interrogation while secretly contacting Batman at the same time "So where are you from?"

Danny turned back to Robin since he was sure he would be doing most of the questioning. He took a bite of the sandwich before saying "Amity Park, Illinois."

"So, are you a Meta-human then?"

"Um, not exactly. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what I am. The ghosts in the zone call me a halfa. Half ghost half human. That's really the best answer I can give you." He said honestly. He wasn't about to try and lie to Batman's protégé.

"Wait how can you be both dead and alive?" Artemis asked.

Danny just gave her a shrug as his mouth was full.

Kid Flash gave a snort "Ghosts don't exist."

Danny raised an eyebrow "Really? Because for something that doesn't exist they pack quite the punch. We have daily ghost attacks in Amity. Our school started having ghost drills more than fire drills. We even have a ghost report section in the news. I can assure you, ghosts are very real." He gave a chuckle "You're kinda looking at one."

"He doesn't have a heartbeat." Superboy said quietly.

Danny sent him a smirk "That's because I'm a ghost."

"What are all of your powers?" Robin asked, wanting to switch topics.

"Well I have the basic ghost powers; invisibility, intangibility, ecto-blasts, and overshadowing. Then I have the powers that are more specific to me. I have an ice core so I can control ice to a certain point, I'm still learning though. I also have a ghostly wail, but I uh don't use that unless I absolutely have to. It is super destructive and extremely draining. I don't really know if this counts as a power, but I can also enter video games. It's pretty fun."

Before anyone could say or do anything else the computer announced a newcomer "Recognized Batman A-01."

Danny paled slightly. Batman was here? He didn't know if the members of the Justice League were for or against the anti-ecto act. He really really hoped they were against it. He wasn't too surprised that the sidekicks didn't know about the act. It was more of a need to know basis.

Batman walked up to the group and looked Danny right in the eyes "Danny Fenton, also known as Phantom. You are a long way from Amity."

Danny blanched "H-how do you know?" then he let out a tired laugh "You're Batman of course you know. I won't tell anyone about this hideout place I promise. I've been chased through a few states the past couple days. So, I can't really turn back into my human form right now, sorry, I would probably pass out."

"How did news of Amity not get out of Amity unless you are directly looking for it?" Batman asked/demanded.

Danny looked at him confused "I didn't know that it wasn't getting out, it's most likely because of Vlad. The, uh, Mayor of the town. He probably made a deal with the local news stations." More like threatened them. Paid them off, or both.

Danny's ear piece went off "Hey Danny we're on the edge of Happy Harbor. Where are you and where do you want us to pick you up?" Sam asked.

Danny looked to Batman "Um, my friends are here to pick me up. Where do you want me to tell them to get me?"

Batman was silent for a moment, simply staring at Danny until he said "Tell them to come here."

"What, really?" Robin said surprised.

Danny, not wanting to question Batman, told Sam "Look for the big mountain. I'm, uh, in the mountain."

"In the mountain? Dude why are you in a mountain?" Tucker asked.

Danny let out a tired sigh "You'll see when you get here. Could you get here soon? I'm beyond tired and I don't think Mom and Dad are going to believe my cover story for much longer."

"We are almost there Danny, just hold in there. I'd say like two minutes, at most." Sam said.

"Kay, see you then." Then he looked back at Kid Flash "You don't happen to have another sandwich, do you? I used a lot of energy the past few days and I really am starving."

Kid Flash gave him a grin and small salute "No problem." A few seconds later he was back with another sandwich "Eat up."

Danny sent him a grin "Thanks." Then he proceeded to devour the sandwich.

"Kid Flash go collect Danny's friends from the loading bay. I'm opening it now for them." Kid Flash nodded and ran off.

Knowing that his friends were going to be there soon Danny started getting up. His back screamed in protest and his legs were super wobbly. He continued standing however. If Sam knew he had gotten hurt enough to not even able to stand he would never hear the end of it.

He heard his friends before he saw them. Tucker was fanboying over Kid Flash and the technology in this hideout. Danny chuckled quietly. Tucker was probably driving poor Kid Flash insane. As the three entered the room Tucker was still throwing questions at a very awkward looking Kid Flash. Relief flashed across Kid Flash's face as they made it back to the living room. It looked like Sam was just barely holding herself back from hitting Tucker herself.

"Hey techno geek, he can't answer your questions if you don't take a break between them." Danny called out.

Tucker stopped mid-sentence and spun to look ad Danny "Dude you're okay!" then he saw the state Danny was in "Well. I mean, mostly."

Sam's eyes lit up in anger and she stomped her way to Danny. Before Danny could get away she punched him hard in the shoulder. Danny let out a gasp of pain.

"Hey! Injured ghost here!" Danny told her.

"You idiot. Why did you let Skulker get in shots? How are you going to explain this to your parents? Those burns won't heal immediately you know." Sam said angrily. Danny didn't mind though, he knew that was how she dealt with her worry.

Danny gave a small shrug "Fell down the stairs?"

Sam gave him a deadpanned look "How will that explain the burns?"

Danny smirked "Fell down the stairs and into one of the anti-ghost protocols. It's believable enough for them."

"Your parents don't know what you do?" Miss Martian asked confused

Danny flinched slightly "Um, no. It's better they don't know… for reasons." There was a brief silence before he continued "I should really get going home. It was nice meeting you all. Again, we promise not to tell anyone about this place. We are really good at keeping secrets."

Danny looked to Batman to see if it was alright to leave, Batman gave him a slight nod.

Sam grabbed Danny's wrist and started pulling him along "Come on idiot, we have to bandage you up. And don't say it's not bad because we know better."

The last thing the team saw was a slight layer of a green blush going across Danny's face.

Artemis let out a laugh "He blushes green? That's adorable."


	2. Chapter 2

Danny laid his head down on his desk. His cross-state chase had ended a couple weeks ago, but he hadn't been able to catch up on sleep quite yet. When they got back to Amity they had found it infested with low and medium level ghosts. Valerie had been away on a vacation with her dad when Skulker had chosen to attack. She had finally gotten back yesterday and had agreed on another temporary truce as the rounded up the majority of the rest of the ghosts. She had of course blamed him on letting the town get that bad though. It seemed like every time he had thought he had a chance to rest a couple more ghosts would pop up. Last night he was pretty sure he had caught the last of the low-level ghosts with Valerie. As he sucked the last low level ghost in his thermos Val called off their truce, her exact words had been 'watch your back Phantom because next time we meet I'll be shooting at it.' The past couple weeks had been so exhausting that when he finally got the opportunity to sleep last night he hadn't been able to sleep well. He kept thinking that he was going to be attacked every time he closed his eyes.

So, staying awake during class was going to be an entirely different battle. For once he was actually wasn't late for school so Mr. Lancer had to give him props for that. Especially with it being the first day of the school year. Sam and Tucker walked into the room, neither of them looked particularly well rested either. As the two made it over to Danny, Tucker patted Danny on the back in greeting. Danny let out a hiss of pain. The burn mark on his back still hadn't healed fully, he hadn't gotten enough down time for his powers to focus on healing him fully. He's had to be in his ghost form for so long in the past few weeks that his core had been stretched thin, so yeah healing had been put on the backburner.

Tucker's eyes went wide "Oh, dude, sorry. I totally forgot."

Danny gave him a tired grin, "It's fine Tuck, no lasting damage."

A few minutes later the rest of the class trickled in, as did Mr. Lancer. When Mr. Lancer saw Danny, his eyes went wide for a moment before smiling. The boy seemed to be making a better effort this year.

As the class settled in Mr. Lancer got everyone's attention "Alright everyone quiet down, I have an announcement to make. For the next two weeks, we will be having three transfer students. They will be arriving momentarily, they are finishing up some paperwork with the principle. When they get here I will allow them to talk to you all to see who they will mesh the best with."

"What do you mean by that?" Star interrupted him.

"Ah, yes. I have contacted all of your parents and they have given their consent to house the transfer students if they choose to become your shadows." Mr. Lancer explained.

Paulina made a face "Wait I minute, there is a chance that somebody could be following me around constantly" then a smile lit up her face "That's great, it would be like having an admirer."

Mr. Lancer chose to ignore her "When they choose who they are going to shadow, those kids are going to help the transfer students around school and show them around town. No arguments from anybody."

A few moments later two girls and a boy entered the room. The boy had bright orange hair and mischief filled green eyes. The first girl had long blonde hair tide back in a ponytail and had dark grey eyes. The other girl had long brownish-orange hair, lots of freckles, and deep brown eyes.

"Class this is Wally West, Artemis Crock, and Megan Morse; make them feel welcome. Now I will let you three talk to my class and choose who you think you will get along the most with."

Sam narrowed her eyes slightly and leaned over to her friends "This could be bad for us if they choose us. It would be much harder for us to get away with people following us around."

Danny gave a tired yet thoughtful look "I don't know, it would make it harder. Though, what are the odds that they would choose us? We are literally the very bottom of the social ladder. More than likely they'll choose Dash, Paulina, and their group."

Tucker nodded his agreement. After everyone talked to the three newcomers for a bit, they announced they decided who they wanted to shadow.

Artemis stepped up first "I'll go with Sam." She said stepping next to the goth. Sam's eyes went wide in shock before turning to glare at Danny who had effectively jinxed their chances. Danny rubbed the back of his head nervously at Sam's look.

Wally went and took the empty desk next to Tucker, pulling out a granola bar "Tucker sounds fun." He said with a grin before taking a bite.

Finally, Megan stood next to Danny "I would like to Shadow Danny please."

The Phantom trio shared a look. Why had they chosen them? They really were the bottom of the social food chain. That and it was going to be a lot more difficult for Danny to sneak away and fight ghosts.

"Hey babe," Dash said towards Megan "You sure you want to spend time with Fenton? He's a total loser, you would probably have more fun with me." He said from his seat.

A small frown appeared on Megan's face "No I'm sure. Danny seems very nice."

Danny blushed slightly at the compliment. He looked over to Dash, saw his angry look directed towards him, and knew he was going to be on Dash's hit list today for sure. Danny let out a sigh, great just what he needed. Great way to start the school year Fenton.

Wally glared slightly at the blonde jock "Jerk." He murmured under his breath.

Tucker heard him and let out a low laugh "You have no idea."

Mr. Lancer looked like he wanted the three transfers to choose different people, but kept his thoughts to himself. "Alright Class, let's begin." Artemis and Megan grabbed the extra chairs and placed them next to their chosen shadows. Desks would be brought in the next day for them to use.

The morning flew by, thankfully ghost attack free. As lunch came the Phantom trio tried to make a hasty exit outside and get temporary freedom from the bullies. Danny went on ahead slightly so he could grab his lunch from his locker. The thought however was in vain. Dash cut him off in front of the lockers. Danny groaned, he was still Dash's favorite it seemed.

Dash grabbed the front of Danny's shirt and slammed him into the lockers. "You made me look stupid Fentonia!" Dash growled.

From the corner of his eye Danny saw his group catch up to him. It looked like Wally was going to step in to do something, but Tucker grabbed his arm and shook his head. Tucker than probably started explaining how it was best to just let Dash get it out of his system or else it he only got worse.

Beside himself Danny rolled his eyes "Pretty sure you did that yourself Dash."

Rage appeared in his eyes "Let's see how nice you seem to her stuffed in a locker Fentonio." Dash ripped open a locker and proceeded to shove Danny into it. Danny's shoulder bumped sharply into one of the hooks in the locker and Danny let out a hiss of pain for the second time that morning. Dash slammed the locker closed and walked off laughing, his friends following him also laughing.

Danny let out a sigh and knocked on the door "Hey Tuck, can you let me out?"

Tucker shook his head as he opened the door, "Dude you have the worst luck. First week back and you already got stuffed into a locker."

Danny let out a groan, "The school has got to start getting them able to open from the inside."

Megan appeared in front of him "Are you alright? Why did he do that?" she looked genuinely confused.

Danny took a step back to get some personal space back and rubbed the back of his head "I'm fine, nothing I'm not used to. Dash is just a bully and I'm his favorite to beat on."

"You should tell someone, bullying isn't right." Wally said with a frown.

Danny gave a shrug "Dash is the head quarterback of the football team. I'm the town freaks' kid. As long as Dash keeps getting touchdowns for the team he's practically untouchable. Plus, it's better if he's just focused on me. That way he leaves most of the rest of us losers alone." He finished with a small smile.

Artemis gave a small scowl "What do you mean by that?"

Sam gave them a smirk "Oh, didn't you figure it out already? You guys picked out the lowest on the social school food chain to shadow for the next two weeks."

Tucker let out a laugh "Oh face it guys, we are officially lower than the losers by now."

Danny sent him a grin, not really caring about 'popularity' anymore "Yeah, you're probably right."

They made their way outside and started talking about themselves and getting to know each other. They figured if they were going to be around each other constantly for the next two weeks they should at least get to know each other. The only thing he was worried about was bringing Megan back to his house and meeting his parents, things always seemed to go wrong around there with new potential friends.


End file.
